


5 Times Venom Shocked the Avengers

by aanahitt



Series: Venom/MCU verse [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Crossover, Irondad, M/M, Other, Peter Parker & Venom are friends, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, venom meets the Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-11 08:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aanahitt/pseuds/aanahitt
Summary: And one time Eddie did.After the life foundation incident, everything settled to normal for Eddie and his symbiote. Until the Avengers have to come pick them up because their cannibalistic habits are starting to freak the local cops. How do you adjust to living with heroes when your modus operandi is eating people?With a few hiccups.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, this is thing. I couldn't stop thinking about the idea of this kind of crossover and what could be done with it, so naturally i made it. I might want to, like, play with the idea of this universe later, but we'll see.
> 
> First chapter is an intro, because this kind of thing needs one. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom is picked up by the Avengers and has to begin adjust to being 'kind of' an Avenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm ignoring Thanos and his face. Fun fics only. In that same vein, we're setting this a year after they figure out their civil war stuff, and keeping everyone at Avengers tower. (my timeline might be the slightest bit off, but it shouldn't matter too much). I also shifted some information to make everything make sense, eg. I make mention host shouldn't reject the symbiote to better explain how V was able to use Anne and the dog when all the hosts in the lab died. 
> 
> Please comment if you like it! Or if have questions, I'm happy to talk with you about any potential plot holes. :)

Natasha tapped her computer, thinking. The Avengers had been contacted a few days ago by the San Francisco police department, and she'd taken on the task of researching the San Francisco Demon, as he'd been called by the people in the city over the past year he'd begun appearing.

Why had they taken a year to look into someone who was obviously a super of some sort? Because as outlined in the Accords they'd all signed, they weren't allowed to be vigilantes. They waited for a police department to call them in, and though everyone had been interested in the Life Foundation incident - Tony had muttered he'd always had a bad feeling about the other genius - they had done as they'd agreed and stayed away.

Now, a year after the incident, it seemed the incident had had lasting consequences. Nat was certain of the connection, though details on the incident were few and far between.

So far, she could gather this much: Some scientist had contacted reporter Eddie Brock about unethical human trials of an unknown nature. Why was it unknown? The rocket that had exploded had resulted in the deaths of most of the scientists. Or that was what the police had decided. The scientist that had called Brock was also dead, but seemingly from being forced into these unknown trials. Brock himself had been snuck into the compound and had managed to get out.

Later, he began acting erratically in public and was taken to a hospital - though all scans and tests related to that trip had somehow disappeared or been corrupted. There had been some chases through the city - supposedly Drake hunting down a reporter with picture evidence of people dead from medical trials. Oh, those pictures did exist, but Brock would be even _more_  useful as a successful test subject. Because Brock - despite another hospital visit that no data could be gathered on - had survived, and somehow made it into the water around the rocket launch.

The story given by the man was that he'd been caught in the hospital and had escaped into the water when they tried to kill him for his knowledge. And then, several months later, the SF Demon started being sighted by people, and the police ignored it. Why?

All indications were that the demon hunted down child rapists, serial kidnappers, and other people no one would ever miss. They had finally called the Avengers on their dark vigilante when the first body had shown up the week before - headless.

Because that head had been eaten.

Nat was certain the Life Foundation incident and the Demon were connected. Not only did the timeline fit too well, but a genius trying to make people stronger and instead creating a monster (ish) was all too familiar. And the kills bore the mark of someone who - as Nat had learned from watching the reporter's show - would shy from attacking poor thieves and actually be able to track down the types of people this Demon managed to find. The only thing that didn't fit was the cannibalism.

Unsurprisingly, the children freed by the dark vigilante only considered him a hero, and said as little as little children could.

Apart from the eating people part, Nat also considered the man a hero. Clearly the police felt the same, for the most part. But he had to operate in the system, like they all did now. So it was Nat's job to hunt him down. She unplugged the Ethernet cord from her laptop.

She'd made sure to get a computer incapable of Wi-Fi connection, so the only way to hack into her computer when she wasn't actively using the internet would be to break into her room in the Avenger's compound. Much safer than trusting her internet history to the cloud. Her actual files were on another computer that she never connected to the internet. She placed this laptop on top of the other, then closed them into a puzzle box - one complicated enough that even if you knew how to crack it, you'd still have to spend a few minutes doing the actual moving process.

Then she left to find Tony or the Cap to let someone know she was leaving for San Francisco.

She found the Captain in the common room, but as he was busy making out with his boyfriend, she moved on to find Tony. He'd probably be in his lab, though he had been disappearing without telling anyone where exactly for the past few months. Nat had done her research and knew about the spider-kid, but she knew for a fact no one else did.

Well they knew Spider-Man existed after the whole business with the accords, but they didn't know the Spiderling was Peter Parker, 16 year old genius personal intern of Tony Stark that the man wasn't allowing any Avenger to actually meet. So she kept quiet about it.

"Tony." She entered the lab. "I'm heading to San Francisco. I'll be bringing a super back."

Tony looked up from his work - some mess of technology Nat couldn't make heads or tails of. This kind of thing wasn't her specialty. "Figured it out already?"

She nodded. "Should be a quick retrieval."

Tony nodded, fingers twitching to keep working. By the empty cans of red bull, Nat guessed he'd been at it a while. "Take the quinjet. And a partner. You're good, but you're still only human. If this guy's - girl's - bulletproof, you could be in a bad position."

She gave him a look. "I don't need help."

"Then take Clint. He keeps bothering me." Tonys attention went back to the metal and wires in front of him.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll take birdbrain off your hands."

"Great." It was an absentminded thing, so she didn't say goodbye as she left.

"FRIDAY?" she asked the AI in the building. "Tell Rhodey Tony's overworking himself again." If she couldn't work without a partner, neither should he.

 

***

 

Eddie looked over his shoulder, unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching his progress through the streets. They couldn't see anyone, couldn't fully sense anyone, it was just a feeling.

_It's probably nothing._

**I don't like it**

_Me neither_.

They looked around again, trying to spot someone somewhere, spreading out all their senses. Still nothing, but it didn't settle the feeling.

"Let's go home," he muttered under his breath. "We can go back out tomorrow."

**Yes... we're hungry**

"I have chocolate at home. It'll last us another day," he assured, though he dropped the actual talking out loud part as they headed back for occupied streets. _And if this hasn't let up, we'll find whoever it is._

**And eat them?**

_... maybe_.

**We should eat them for spying. That's a bad person thing to do**

_We'll see, V. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for watching us._

There was a huff along their connection, and Eddie ignored it to get them home.

The feeling didn't let up the whole walk home, but they felt a little better once they closed the door behind them. He took a breath and pulled the fridge open, pulling out the first bottle of fudge and preparing themselves hot chocolate. They had a whole row of the bottles, going through them pretty continuously to feed the symbiote and keep the cannibalism to a minimum.

**Not cannibalism! We're not human!**

_Yeah, well **I**  am._

**You are now part of _us_**

Eddie shook his head, because he couldn't _really_  argue that point. They were too connected for there to be a clear I or you.

Halfway through his cup the feeling of being watched returned. They got up to close the curtains the human way, but the prickly feeling remained.

Damn.

 

***

 

Venom crawled into the window of their apartment building. This was a disused corner, where V could draw beneath his skin without anyone seeing. They'd considered going to their apartment, but it was high and visible enough that they would worry about people seeing them constantly climbing through the window.

V twined around his spine as they headed up to their room, full and sated; there would be no talk of eating non essential organs for at least a week, and the feeling of a watcher had finally gone away on the third day. Hopefully they'd bored the person stalking them. All they wanted to do was to rest and digest the -

**Eddie**

They froze in front of their door.

**Someone's in there**

Eddie flattened against the wall next to their door. _Who?_

**Danger**

Which wasn't super helpful.

**One person**

_Thanks_.

Eddie took a breath, then, staying against the wall, pushed the door open.

Nothing.

His whole body was taut, and V vibrated just beneath his skin. Very carefully they looked around the corner. There, sitting in his armchair, was a very amused Black Widow.

_Oh shit._

**We can eat her**

_No! We're not eating her!_

"Mr. Brock. You can come in."

He swallowed. But he came in, closing the door behind them.

**Pussy**

_I have every reason to be scared!_

**... pussy**

Eddie scowled. "Black Widow... what are you doing in my apartment?"

"I just wanted to ask you about the Life Foundation incident. You don't have to worry, we just finally got access to it and I've been curious, that's all."

They tried to read her, but her poker face was perfect. Maybe that _was_  it. Or maybe it was the fact they'd left a body recently, or the fact #SanFranDemonMan was trending.

They'd have to be careful.

**Or eat her**

_We're not eating an Avenger!_

**loser**

"What did you want to know?"

"Just what happened. The truth. There seemed to be a lot missing from official reports."

Eddie looked away. So there was suspicion. "I told the police -"

"Enough for them to stop asking? Come on, Eddie. We both know there's more to your story, and you're the only one that seems to know it. You and your ex."

He sighed. "Did you want something to drink? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?" He turned to make himself hot chocolate. It was just automatic at this point.

She shrugged, but they could tell she noticed the fudge piled in his fridge as she commented, "Need more sugar lately?"

Eddie almost laughed. Yeah, that's what he needed. That'd be easy. He shrugged, finishing up their cups. He used soymilk. It just felt more filling than regular, though not quite _food_.

"Look, Eddie, I get it. You tried to stop some medical trials and you were exposed. It happens. You're lucky to be alive. It's ok to be scared of someone trying to experiment on you again, but thats not why I'm here. I'm not exactly new to this enhanced superhuman -"

"You think that's what this is?" Eddie added an extra spoonful of chocolate to his cup before coming back to the table and giving _the_  Black Widow a cup of hot chocolate. "Captain America? Mr. Righteous and heroic?"

The woman studied him. "Why don't you tell me?"

**Eddie**

_She's not gonna leave us alone. She might go after Annie and Dan. I can't let her do that._

**I don't want to be in a lab again**

_Never,_ Eddie promised. _I will never let that happen._

V quieted, coiled tightly inside him, trying to tie themselves as much as possible to Eddie's cells.

Eddie sighed. "I went in because one of the scientists was concerned about some medical tests Drake was doing."

Nat nodded, while he considered his cup. The truth then.

"She told me Drake had found aliens on a recent mission." No surprise. "They called them symbiotes. They can't - couldn't survive in an oxygen rich environment. They needed hosts. Drake thought the symbiosis would create humans who could live in space. Not totally sure how he got there so quickly, but..." Eddie shook his head. "By the time I got there, they'd moved on to human trials. The only problem was that the symbiotes needed... _perfect_  matches. Biologically."

**And mentally**

_What?_

**You don't fight me**

_Not so much a mental match..._

"And the hosts can't reject them. They need to be willing," Eddie added dutifully. "Otherwise the host won't survive. They went through... a _lot_  of hosts. It killed most of the symbiotes at the lab - the... constant motion through hosts. Pretty much everyone involved died." He took another deep breath. "Except that when I went in there... I tried to save one of the people he used... She died anyway, but I... The symbiote moved to me."

"And you're a perfect match," she finished, watching him.

Eddie nodded. "Much to everyone's surprise. There was some chasing. Some arguing with V once I figured out what had happened."

"You can talk to it?"

**It!?**

Eddie pursed his lips. "I could talk to him. There was a mental... connection. I mean, there was an everything connection. V was in my brain too. We... well, V tried to convince me to go along with the world invasion plan, and I tried to convince him otherwise. Eventually we kind of compromised, but, um, he switched sides at the end. Drake had become a host, was going to kick start the whole invasion thing..."

"You stopped it."

"Me and V." He gave a thin smile. "He died in the explosion but he, uh, he saved me."

"I see." She sipped her drink and Eddie did the same. "Did you require... more calories or?"

Eddie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I got used to hot chocolate, I guess."

"Any chance anyone else got infected?"

**Infected?!**

"No. Me and Drake were the only successful hosts."

"Any chance... V survived and took a different host?"

" _ **No**_ "

The refusal was out before they realized they should have agreed. She was watching him. So carefully. Too carefully.

Even V stilled, waiting.

"And he is definitely gone?" she asked.

"Yes."

The next few seconds happened way too fast. The Black Widow threw a knife at their face. V surged at the danger, catching it with a tendril while Eddie ducked down.

"Hello, V," she said, no surprise in her tone. She was looking at them in interest.

Eddie slowly straightened while V set the knife down, tendril shooting back under his skin.

V sent a wave of apology.

The Black Widow sipped her hot chocolate. "So... The only question I have left is: why the eating people? There are other ways to use your abilities."

"I'm not trying to be a vigilante," Eddie defended. "I... V saved the world. Maybe we weren't the last line of defence, but..." He ran a hand through his hair. "He doesn't deserve to starve to death."

That, Eddie was sure, she _hadn't_  been expecting.

 

***

 

Nat entered the jet first, leading the #SanFranDemonMan behind her. It had taken some arguing, but they'd agreed to come along with a small bag full of a few clothes and lots of bottles of fudge - chocolate, apparently, was the only thing that read as food; not counting live humans and some animals and, according to V, chemicals Eddie's own brain created for them on a regular basis. Nat wasn't a scientist, but she was sure Bruce would be able to figure this one out.

It was her largest piece of bait to get the two of them onto the jet, though she'd also had to promise no testing on them. No labs.

She could understand that.

"Clint, get us airborne," she told Clint, who'd kept the quinjet ready to go; ready in case Eddie needed to be dragged to New York.

"This is the famous San Francisco Demon?" Clint asked, looking Brock over as he lifted off.

Eddie sank into a chair and looked nervously out the window before turning to the copter interior.

"Yeah, that's us. Hawkeye, right?"

Clint smiled. "The one and only. You have a special name or just Eddie?"

The man's gaze went distant the way it sometimes did, then he answered, "Venom. We're Venom."

Clint nodded.

Natasha scoffed. Men and their superhero names.

Eddie gave her a look. "It's V's real name. I shorten it because... because we're really only Venom when we're together."

"Sounds like wherever your friend is from they have shitty names."

"Sure, _Black Widow_ ," Clint said.

Natasha sent him a glare, and he focused on flying.

Eddie pulled out a chocolate bar to snack on while firmly not looking out the windows.

"Do you ever get tired of it?" Clint asked, gesturing at the bar.

Eddie shook his head. "We don't really taste things the same. I mean, the taste itself is the same, but it's processed differently."

Clint nodded as if he understood. "I went ahead and called Tony to stock up on chocolate. I was listening to the conversation in case Nat needed back up, and I'd rather you two didn't get peckish." He tapped his hearing aid.

"I figured. I promise we won't eat any Avengers." Eddie paused in that way of his. "Unless they're being particularly annoying."

Clint chuckled. "Well, I'll say goodbye to the Captain when we get back."

"Someone was going to do it eventually," Nat muttered, and Eddie grinned, finishing off his chocolate and trying to nap in the cramped space.

 

***

 

**Wake up**

The voice pulled him quickly out of sleep. Eddie knew to respond to V, especially to wake up when asked. Even if there wasn't danger, V got upset if he had to wait. He'd woken up on top of the bridge one time when he hadn't woken fast enough.

No one could say life with V didn't keep him on his toes.

**We're here**

He glanced out the window to see dawn was just breaking, them flying the whole night to reach the other side of the country. They touched down at the top of the Avengers building. Way too high.

**pussy**

_Shut up._

"Woke right on time," Black Widow - Nat - commented.

"V doesn't sleep," he said. He got a little nervous talking about V, but it felt good too. He hadn't let anyone know V was still around, especially not Annie. And if she'd guessed about the SF demon, she hadn't brought it up.

She hadn't exactly gotten off trauma free from the Life Foundation incident.

"Huh," Hawkeye considered this as he turned the copter off. "So, what does he usually do when you sleep?"

Eddie shrugged. "Watch the Food Network. My electricity bill has skyrocketed."

**You can afford it**

_Would be nice if you just read something._

This apparently didn't warrant an answer.

Hawkeye laughed. "So is he a cook then?"

"Thinks he is." Eddie grinned at the man. He liked him.

"Come on." The Black Widow jumped out of the helicopter.

They exchanged a glance, then followed her.

"Who else is here?" they asked.

"Tony's pretty much always here," Hawkeye said. "Steve and Bucky live here and they're not off on a mission right now. Vision and Wanda are home at the moment. Me and Natasha come and go. Bruce, Scott, and Sam do the same, and I think they're gone right now. Every once in a while the Asgardians visit or the Wakandans, but it's calm at the moment."

Eddie nodded, trying to match the people names to the superhero names.

"Are you gonna go as Venom or Eddie?"

**We are Venom and here we can be Us**

"We'll go by Venom," Eddie said dutifully. He wouldn't argue V's possessiveness. It'd be very... weird, he thought, being Venom and having people know. Maybe it'd be nice, not having to hide half of themselves from everyone all the time. Hawkeye nodded.

"Pretty much everyone calls me Clint, so you might as well do that too." Eddie nodded.

_Sounds like we'll be the only ones._

**It is who we are**

_Yeah. Yeah, it is. Couldn't imagine life without you, V._

**Don't**

"Hey." Eddie looked up to find Tony Stark - Iron Man - in front of them. He supposed his superhero name had been given to him by the media. It wasn't really _him_.

Natasha had been talking to him when they and Clint entered. He saw Captain America and the Winter Soldier looking over the back of the couch to watch them.

"Hey." Eddie waved awkwardly. He felt a little out of place. These people were heroes. Eddie and V ate people. "We're Venom."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "So the symbiote is the dominant personality?"

**Obviously**

_Shut up_ , Eddie ordered as he said out loud, "It's a symbiosis. Sometimes more one than the other, but it's always both."

It seemed everyone in the room had already been given at least the basics, because no one looked confused.

Tony just nodded. "That's encouraging. Ill show you your room. You can either sleep or come join everyone for breakfast."

" **Breakfast**... Please." Eddie hefted his bag, ignoring the looks.

Tony nodded and headed down the hall and he followed.

"There's no monitoring in my room?" they asked as they walked into the compound.

"No, but you're sandwiched between Steve and Bucky on one side, and Vision on the other. The rest of the rooms and halls are monitored and run by my AI system, FRIDAY. You can talk to her anywhere in the compound, excerpt your room, of course, unless you'd like to get it installed. Since this is also my tech company, I'll give you a clearance badge so you can access these floors, or you can come in through the windows like spider man, once we get the legal stuff done. Until then, you're confined to the compound."

"Legal?"

"Your vigilantism. You do know it's technically illegal?"

Eddie nodded. "I know. So... am I in trouble with the law?"

"You're new, so I'll argue your side. But once a super is identified you have to be registered by the UN and they have to establish your threat level. We'll do that here. You'll be given a tracker to wear at all times. I can't get you off that, by the way, since you've proven yourself a threat. Low level supers don't need it."

They nodded, less certain about all this. "Didn't some group start killing people off that list?"

"We've updated security."

"But... bigotry is still a thing." Tony paused to look at him. "A little," he admitted. "That's why us Avengers also do some PR. So far, we keep people thinking it's cool."

"I don't think we'll be able to do that."

Tony shrugged. "That's fine. This is your room. If you sign, you can work with us to help protect the country, world, et cetera. If you don't, all your extralegal activities need to stop, or you'll be detained indefinitely and without trial."

Eddie pursed his lips. "So... We're not really citizens anymore?"

"We're dangerous, Venom. _You_  know that. Until and unless we have enough people or tech to keep supers like you from escaping while we try to hold a trial, we can't afford to give one... I'm working on it."

Venom looked at him, eyes flicking to symbiote whiteness and back. "Do it, then."

They entered the room and V extended tendrils to search the walls and ceiling. He didn't know Tony enough to trust him, and he was satisfied to hear the man's gasp at his first sight of V. V returned to nest under his skin, twining around his organs. Nothing.

"We'll get situated and come down for breakfast."

Tony nodded. "We'll see you then." To his credit, his voice remained calm.

 

***

 

They made their way down to the kitchen, keeping an ear out for the Avengers. Eddie had talked little at breakfast, and then headed straight to sleep. A few hours in a jet hadn't exactly been enough. Clint and Nat had done the same, having slept even less than he had. Now that he'd woken, V was pushing him for food.

It was a miracle they weren't fat.

Luckily no one was in the kitchen, though someone was in the living room area. And one person was in the vents.

Clint.

They ignored both and searched through the fridge. It was clear the people here didn't cook; there was mostly prepared food and sandwich trimmings, which wasn't quite what they were looking for.

They did get hot chocolate going, then Eddie hesitantly asked, "Uh, FRIDAY?"

_"Yes, Venom?"_

They located the speakers - three small ones that gave the sense the voice was everywhere. Talk about a flair for dramatics.

"Can we order food?"

_"Of course. I can get anything delivered that you would like. The Boss has specified you should order anything you need."_

**I like rich people**

_Honestly, me too._  "OK, please deliver one whole chicken with giblets, a quart of pork brains - **beef**."

_"The food will arrive in 34 minutes. Shall I place these items on a reorder list?"_

" **Yes** "

_"It is done, sir."_

"Thank you." Eddie tasted the hot chocolate, and decided it was good enough. V found a cup and held it while Eddie poured their drink, then tossed the pot into the sink. Hopefully they had something to take care of that.

**We're hungry**

_Wait half an hour._

**We should eat the bird man, We can pull him out of the ceiling, It would be fun**

"We are not pulling Clint out of the ceiling," Eddie admonished. "He's having a good time."

There was a sound above them and they looked up with a grin to see Clint looking down. "How did you know?"

"We could sense you." They shrugged.

"Cool. People in general, or just me?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Why aren't you falling through the ceiling? Most ceiling tiles can't hold people."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "This is the Avenger's tower. Can't have the ceiling caving in every time one of our enhanced friends throws something."

They nodded.

**We should break the ceiling**

_Could be fun,_ Eddie allowed. "So how do you get about in places that aren't enhanced?"

"The normal way, sad to say. What are you making with brains?"

" **We eat them raw** "

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Better than human brains, I guess?"

Eddie couldn't help but laugh at the look on Clint's face.

"What?"

They calmed down after a few moments, V's amusement feeding back into Eddie's. "Sorry," he said, still chuckling. "We'll make quesadillas."

"Oh." Clint made a face and jumped down. "Why _not_  have raw brains?" They tilted their head, V rising up in front of his eyes.

**You ate them raw for a while**

_It's just not a very human thing to do, I guess. Can you imagine someone seeing me eating raw brains?_  "I guess... usually we try to appear more human."

Clint shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Unless you just like coating everything in cheese."

"We do like cheese," Eddie allowed, V retreating while he finished off his hot chocolate.

Clint chuckled. "I like you Venom. But remind me not to eat anything you cook."

" **Hey!** "

"Did someone order brains?"

They looked to the doorway where Dr. Banner stood, holding a plastic bag.

"Ah. Mine!" Eddie went over to grab the bag.

**I can grab it from where we were standing**

_What?_

**If we are being Us, we can grab it from over there**

_I guess..._  Eddie took the bag from the man who could become the Hulk. "Thanks."

"You're the new one? Venom?" Eddie nodded. "Tony told me about you. I'll be working with you to try to figure everything out. Like the... what it is you need."

"Ah."

**I don't like him**

_Why?_

**He's a scientist**

_Ok?_

"Yeah. We can sit and talk about it. I have a lab on the lower -"

" **No labs** "

V flicked over his eyes.

Banner leaned forward curiously and Venom snapped at him, teeth sharpening. Banner jumped backwards.

" **No labs** "

"No labs," Banner agreed. V shrunk beneath his skin.

"So... lunch, anyone?"


	2. Rabbits and Tentacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just read it, it'll be fun, I promise.

"But surely you can understand why I need to know."

Venom stared at Tony, drinking their hot chocolate without expression.

It was a little creepy, and look, Tony had *met* aliens before, he didn't have anything against them. But none of them were quite so unnerving. Other aliens seemed to have similar conventions about interactions. Venom did sometimes - Tony assumed those were the times Eddie was more in control. But sometimes there was just nothing.

"You don't let anyone know what you guys can do. And you actually do need to let the UN know."

"They can class us at the highest threat level."

"Venom -"

"We're not like you. If people turn on us, we'd prefer they didn't have a list of what we can and can't do."

Tony sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. They'd been having this conversation for a while, and the U.N. representative was arriving the next day, giving their newest super a week to settle in. It had been... interesting.

They actually could cook well, and seemed to focus mostly on food and locking themselves in their room, especially after Clint left, taking some time with his family while he could. "They can decide to lock you up if you refuse."

" **They can try** "

" _Venom._  And then they'll find out anyway."

The alien in front of him just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with that eventuality.

"I thought you _didn't_  want to be on the run."

Nothing.

"We can't take you on missions if we don't know what you can do."

Narrowed eyes.

"Just give them _one_  thing."

Their eyes flicked to a white perlescent shade. " **Fire** "

Tony gave a sigh of relief. "Great. Good, ok."

The white retreated. "Even the Avengers are uncomfortable with us. Why not let them lock us up?"

"Being different isn't a crime. Strengths?"

Venom considered him with an unreadable expression. Maybe it was that of a predator. A tiger staring at a house cat, wondering at its right to give it orders. "Strength," they finally said. "Speed. We can't be injured. Is that enough?"

Tony nodded gratefully. "Yes. That's perfect." He ran a hand through his hair. "As for the other Avengers, you could make more of an effort. Join us when we train, or at movie night."

"Training would make people _more_  edgy. We would injure you."

Tony scoffed. "You can train with Steve and Bucky. They have the enhanced thing too."

"We would beat them too."

"A little cocky there? You never practice. You've only gone up against unsuspecting people."

"Trust me."

"Prove it." Tony shrugged. "You beat the captain, I'll get you something you want. Like what, a live rabbit?"

The white flickered back into their eyes. " **Deal** "

Their smile was too wide with too many, too sharp teeth.

 

***

 

"Damn."

Steve tapped the ground three times and Natasha got off of him. "How do you do that?" Steve pushed himself back to his feet.

"You don't pay attention to the things around you," she snapped. "You have to stop relying just on your 'super soldier' muscles to keep you safe."

He sighed in annoyance, but then his eye caught on Tony bringing in the new guy.

Venom.

He was dressed as usual, old hoodie over a t-shirt, pair of comfortable pants. He didn't seem like a super, most of the time.

"Hey, Capsicle," Tony greeted. "I finally convinced our newest recruit to come train."

"Of course." Steve smiled at him - them. It was hard sometimes, to remember it was actually two people, though people was used very loosely. "How do you fight?"

Venom shrugged. "Mostly on instinct."

Natasha sighed. "Another idiot. I could probably take you down faster than Steve."

Steve saw the amused look on Venom's face at that, but they didn't say anything. "Well, let's go at it and we can help you polish your style up."

Now they _did_  laugh. "Not sure anyone could teach us a style." They went over, giving Tony a look. "How do we do this? We've never sparred."

Tony chuckled. "You have to win this match to win our deal."

Venom's eyes flickered with that white shade. "We remember."

Steve raised an eyebrow at Tony, but just said, "so, we start like this far apart, and the point is to pin the other person to the ground. Three taps means you're out."

They nodded. "Got it."

"Alright." Steve waited a moment, letting Venom get comfortable. They didn't really get into a fighting stance, but they would work on that.

Steve rushed him and - Venom wasn't there. He turned left, and a... tentacle wrapped around his neck. He grabbed it and then he was flying through the air and hit the wall. Steve tried to get up and saw Venom jumping onto them. He rolled sideways and they slammed into the wall hard enough that if it hadn't been reinforced it would have broken.

Venom didn't fall off the wall, their hand covered in the black that was the symbiote sticking to the wall. They raised their hand and Steve just dodged another tentacle. Venom came after him again and Steve was reacting on instinct.

He'd fought some weird shit, but tentacles were a new and slightly disturbing addition. Sometimes it was their arms, but the tentacles could come out of anywhere. That was particularly disturbing.

He was tossed around a few times before Venom finally made it onto his back, black slick - but not wet - tentacles pinning him to the ground. They were heavier than he'd expected. Steve tapped out.

Damn. He'd have to learn how to fight against them.

Venom got off his back and crouched next to him, grinning. The extra appendages shrunk beneath his skin.

" **That was fun** "

Steve rubbed his wrists where Venom had held them down. "How do you fight something like that?"

" You don't. That's why - **Hey**!" A black mass caught a knife that Nat had thrown at the super.

"That was an awful fight," she said, coming over. "You fight with zero technique."

"We defeated the Captain."

"So have I. Just because you're fast and strong doesn't mean you shouldn't know what you're doing."

Venom scowled at her.

"Let's see if we can't, actually, teach you some technique."

 

***

 

Eddie flopped onto their bed and grabbed a chocolate bar, tired. Mentally, of course. Physically, V could keep them going for much longer than the training session had lasted.

They hadnt been sure about training. Usually all they got was screams, and even Annie had told him she couldn't handle this when he'd called to tell her he was at the Avenger's tower.

It had left them very much alone. V didn't mind, Klyntar having evolved to be, not solitary, not at all, but company hadn't necessarily been a positive. In a way, Eddie's ability to isolate them was a breath of fresh air to the symbiote, especially since they always had each other. But Eddie needed some sort of human community.

Which wasn't going very well; he knew they'd disturbed the captain with their... well, selves, as they'd expected. They maybe shouldn't have done it, but they'd had a good reason.

And the Black Widow didn't seem scared or disgusted. But maybe she just hid it well. He wouldn't put it past her, but she'd treated them like she treated anyone. That was nice already.

**At the door**

Eddie was up and opening the door before Nat had a chance to knock. He grinned sheepishly at her raised eyebrow. "Hey. We, uh, heard you."

She nodded at that, then said, "Come down for dinner. Tony got you something."

They nodded and watched her leave, then headed down. Tony had promised them a rabbit, and they were looking forward to it.

Eddie didn't find it weird anymore to fantasize about the feeling of sinking his teeth into something alive and struggling, had come to terms with the way it made their mouth water. And they needed a little pick me up. They hadn't even left this compound for a week; no running through the streets and over the buildings, no investigations, no actual privacy.

Definitely no eating people.

They made their way to the small dining room. There was a separate one for when _everyone_  was there, but when it was just a few people it just felt empty. Tony looked up when they entered and held up a cage with a rabbit that started freaking out at the sense of the very large and very dangerous predator in the room.

V rose above his eyes, excited.

"Oh, hello Venom."

They redirected their attention to the CEO of SI. "Hello Ms. Potts," they greeted politely, moving towards the rabbit. "Joining for dinner?"

"Yes. I heard you trained with the group today. I'm glad you're settling in."

"Oh, well." They shrugged awkwardly, and took the rabbit from Tony. They could feel people watching them. "We were promised one of these, so..."

"Are you going to eat it?" Pepper asked in a forced calm voice.

**Set it free**

_I think they wouldn't appreciate us hunting it down in front of them._

**Losers**

"Uh, yeah. That -- that was the idea... We'll go put it in our room."

They smiled awkwardly at everyone before trying to leave the room.

"Do you eat it whole and uncooked?" Dr. Banner asked.

"Uh," they paused, V more annoyed at the interruption. "Yeah, pretty much..."

There was disgust on some of their faces, but the nerds, of course, just looked interested.

"So you're immune to food carried disease? You can digest bone?"

"Uh, guess so."

"What - if I brought you some samples, could -"

"Woah! No tests!" They cut off the excited scientist before he could get too far.

"But we can do it up here! No going into a lab at all!"

They looked to Tony for help. Just cause he seemed kind of in control and Eddie didn't want to just scare the man into it.

Tony patted Dr. Banners back. "Leave them alone, Bruce. They're not a specimen."

"But this is our only chance to understand alien biology!" The doctor turned to Tony to complain.

They took the chance to escape to their room.

Eddie hoped it wasn't a pet rabbit but a farm rabbit, though there probably wasn't much actual difference between the two.

**Eat it now**

Eddie hesitated. He wanted to join the group and have dinner.

**We'll have room**

Eddie could feel V's hunger and also the excitement. They shut the door behind them and looked down at the scared rabbit. His vision was sharper like this, better for darkness. V surged out of his skin, tearing the cage open and grabbing the animal, dropping it into their gaping mouth whole.

**Delicious**

Eddie grinned as V shrank beneath his skin. They should have done this at home. It wasn't like the animal wasn't going to be eaten anyway, right?

_Maybe FRIDAY will order us some more._

**Good to be around rich people**

"Yeah."

Eddie tossed the cage into a corner. They'd clean it up later, when they wouldn't have to sneak it past people who would be disgusted and appalled. Or else far too interested. V's memories of being experimented on made them fairly uncomfortable about that kind of interest. Though Eddie felt uneasy about it even without the context.

But now he needed to get back to exactly those people, and hopefully they could all ignore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I got so many likes on the first chapter! :) I hope you guys enjoy this one too, let me know your thoughts and questions down below!


	3. Dinner and Chocolates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a good portion of the Avengers gathering, they have a communal dinner. Venom volunteers to cook because, well, why not?

"Watch the sauce," Eddie ordered, turning to prepping fresh pasta. V extended a tentacle to poke at it. He could kind of feel the attention to the pan, but he could focus on what he was doing.

Right now no one was home; Steve and Bucky had left on a mission of some sort - that he wasn't asked to join despite being cleared by the U.N. representative the day before. They even had a tracker from the experience, one they were pretty sure Tony could disable if he wanted to. Hell, they could probably break it themselves if they were so inclined, but for now, they put up with it.

They couldn't exactly argue that they weren't dangerous.

Which was kind of why it would make sense to maybe _t_ _ake them on a mission._  Or _something_.

**Idiots**

Eddie sent a vehement agreement to his other.

Tony was somewhere, working on something, which was about how much he knew of everyone else's whereabouts. But apparently Clint, Sam and Scott were coming to spend the weekend here, training and getting up to speed on everything - not that much had happened, as far as they were told - so they had offered to make dinner. It wasn't like they had anything else to do. 

They'd even made dessert: little chocolate truffles. They weren't bakers like Bucky, but they thought they'd done pretty well. And it had been a lot of fun, and they'd eaten a lot of errant chocolate during the process.

"What kind of pasta do we want?"

**Can you make anything other than linguini**

"Rude. Just for that I'm going to make spaghetti."

**Thin linguini**

Eddie laughed. "Bowtie?"

There was a few seconds of pause.

**you'll mess it up**

"Bowtie it is, then. Just you watch, it's going to be super cute."

**unlikely**  then **window**

Eddie turned in time to see a masked vigilante climb in through the window in the living room. They recognized him, of course. Spider-Man was pretty distinctive, but he didn't usually hang out with the Avengers.

"Hey?" Eddie called. The kid started, and it was definitely a kid. They could feel it.

"Oh!" The kid came over. "Hi! I'm Spider Parker - er, I mean Spider-Man. Just Spider-Man. What is that?"

Eddie's lips twitched up in amusement. "Pasta. Are you good with bowtie?"

"Yeah! I didn't know you could make pasta Mr. Venom, but I was talking about the - the tentacle? Unless you don't like that word, that's fine, that's why I was asking actually, you know -"

"Tentacle is fine," Eddie said, cutting him off before he went too far off the rails. "That's V, my other."

"Wow!" The kid went over, then paused. "Um, Mr. Venom, sir? You didn't put this in the sauce, did you?" The boy held up the jar of blood that was mostly empty by now.

Eddie chuckled, cutting the pasta into little rectangles. "Nah. We had to promise three people we wouldn't use blood in the sauce before they let us cook. That's just for our bowl."

"Oh, that's good." The kid said with relief. "Mr. Stark may have mentioned that you might use some weird ingredients. Are you going to have enough time to make enough for everyone, Mr. Venom?"

**Let's keep him**

_We can't just keep a random kid._

**We can do what we want**

"Yeah," Eddie said, answering the question. "Steve's not here, and we have stuff in the fridge, this is the last thing we're prepping. You joining for dinner, kid?"

"Oh! Yeah, Mr. Stark may have mentioned that there was gonna be a dinner and he said I could come if I wanted, I didn't mean to be early and I'm not a kid."

They scoffed at that. "Why don't you set the table then, kid?"

They could feel the glare. "I'm not a kid!"

"You feel like maybe fifteen years old." Eddie tapped his temple. "We don't sense a lot of things, but you don't read like an adult."

"You have telepathy?" Spider-Man asked, excited all over again. "But you can't read peoples minds, that's such a breach of privacy, you haven't been reading my mind, have you?"

**I wish**

"Very very low telepathy," Eddie said. "We can't read minds, unless V decides to climb into your body."

"Ohhh. So are you... you don't know my identity?"

"No. Does anyone know, Spider Parker?"

The kid looked around, embarrassed. "Well, Mr. Stark does, but he's the only one. And you can't tell anyone I said that!"

"We'll think about it," they allowed. "Now go set the table since you're here early. Are you going to stay in the mask?"

"Well I have to, Mr. Venom, but I can roll it up to eat and hang out. It's actually really comfortable," he chattered as he went to get plates and set everything up.

**Eddie, I get why humans keep pets**

"A teenager is _not_ a pet," Eddie snapped.

**it is to us**

"Uh, Mr. Venom?" They could feel the worry coming off the teenager.

**I want it**

"Not talking to you, Spiderling."

"Oh." The boy quieted.

**You upset it**

"Hey, I'm sorry. Sometimes I reply to my other out loud." Eddie gave him a rueful smile. "V's not exactly used to human culture."

Spider-Man nodded hesitantly. "What planet is V from?"

" **Klyntar.**  And you can talk to us directly."

"What's Klyntar like? Is it like a gas giant or a water world? I mean, it has to have water right? I guess it wouldn't be like a hot small planet, or even a hot large planet..."

" **It isn't any type of world"**

"But like what kind of planet is it? It can't just be nothing," Peter began, reminding them of the other scientists in the Avengers. Everyone was curious about their planet and they really really _really_ didn't want to talk about it. But they gave everyone a basic rundown.

"Klyntar isn't a real planet," they explained. "It's an artificial world where symbiotes live. They made it way too long ago."

Spider-Man stared at them. "So where do symbiotes come from? They can't have just appeared, right? Did something happen to their own planet?"

"Ain't that the million dollar question," they lied. But it would get the questions to stop, and they could forget the discomfort in their stomach they got when V thought of home and the past. "You can start putting food on the table," Eddie offered, hoping to distract. "And you can grab one of the chocolates we made."

"You made chocolates?" The teenager bounced over to the fridge to start pulling stuff out.

"Yeah, it was fun." They looked over to see the kid pop one into his mouth before putting everything out. They focused on bowtying their pasta to hide the amusement, lots of little tendrils coming out of his arms to pinch the pasta rectangles far faster than he could've done on his own.

"These are delicious, Mr. Venom!" Spider-Man said.

"Thanks." They noticed the kid watching them and looked up, realizing their usual way of doing things might be a little disturbing.

"That's so useful," the kid breathed. "I wish I could do a million things at once, that's so cool!"

Eddie grinned. "Yeah, it is." The elevator doors opened behind them. "Hey, Clint!"

"Hey! Putting those hours of TV watching to use? Hey Spider-Man, joining for dinner?"

"Yup." The kid gave the man a small smile.

Eddie threw the pasta into the pot. "We have to do something. No one lets us do anything else, and even this was stretching it."

Clint chuckled. "You do have weird tastes."

They scoffed. "Go eat a chocolate, Birdbrain."

Clint rolled his eyes but took one. "Heard you got fitted with a tracker yesterday."

"Mmhmm." They showed off the anklet, which had a small red light to show it was working. "It's made of vibranium. Some high tech stuff we didn't follow."

"Doesn't bother you?"

"Not really, but yes. Go put this on the table, kid." They passed the finished sauce to the Spiderling.

"Alright, Mr. Venom, sir."

"Well, I think it'd bother anyone if they had to wear a tracker all the time. The accords might be better, but they still suck."

Venom nodded, in total agreement.

"So what threat level did you get?" he asked in a more cheerful tone, tying to make light of the situation. "Can you believe I got level 4? Nat, of course, got level 2. She doesn't even have any powers."

"Of course she did," they said. The Black Widow was scary and needed the highest level of containment. "I think the technical term for my level is 'shoot first and ask questions of the corpse'."

Clint whistled. " _Nice._ "

"What?" The spider kid sounded horrified. "That's awful!"

Eddie shrugged. "I wouldn't do any of their tests."

Clint nodded sagely. "No labs. So is it indestructible, then?"

"Probably meant to be. I think it's got some kind of explosive in there."

"Mr. Venom, you don't deserve that!" The kid put his hands on his hips. "They don't have the right to track you with an explosive!"

**We're keeping him**

_... Fine._

 

***

 

"So you just hung out on a meteor until someone picked you up?"

Even with the mask on, Nat could feel the wide eyed wonder of the youngest superhero at the table. Venom rubbed their neck.

"Pretty much." They continued to be evasive about any of the alien's past. And Eddie's, though to be fair, that was asked about significantly less. It was only the utter nerds who couldn't keep it in their pants and not harass the duo.

"Sounds like my kids' way of dealing with life," Clint said, easily shifting the conversation. "You'd think with having an Avenger for a dad they'd be more motivated. It's those damn phones they're always on."

"There's nothing wrong with being on your phone, Mr. Hawkeye!" Spider-Man defended. "I'm on my phone all the time and I get things done!"

"What? No you're not. You spend ninety percent of your time building legos and working on your suits." Tony raised an eyebrow. "When you're not spidermanning."

"I still live on my phone! Half of all of life is on phones nowadays! I would be a social pariah if I didn't exist on places like Snapchat."

"Don't you think that's kind of sad?"

"Wait, no, shut up Tony," Clint interrupted, leaning past Venom. Tony looked incredibly offended. "What's Snapchat?"

"Oh, uh, it's an app where you send pictures to your friends, Mr. Hawkeye."

"Maybe I should download it. Communicate with the young generation."

"No offense, Mr. Hawkeye," Spider-Man's voice went up an octave. "But old people on Snapchat is a little weird, I mean, you have a Twitter right, or a facebook, that's where older people..."

The boy trailed off as everyone burst into laughter at the look on Clint's face.

"I'm not old," he muttered.

"Get over it, Barton. I've had to hear the kid call me old too, after he looked at my Twitter account. The only one who doesn't get it is Thor," Tony said dryly.

"That's because Thor is _so cool_!" Spider-Man looked like he might begin vibrating. "Like have you _seen_  him?"

"Can you believe this? I'm not even his favorite Avenger," Tony complained.

"Get over it. I'm not my kids' either," Clint commiserated.

Tony didn't bother to defend that Peter 'wasn't his kid' this time. It was a long lost argument.

Venom snorted, entertained. "That's because Thor is easily the most attractive Avenger."

Spider-Man looked like he was going to burst with excitement at being validated, but before he could say anything Eddie slapped himself in the face.

The man froze for a second, then said out loud, "What the _actual fuck_ , V?"

The rest of that conversation was internal, Venom schooling their face to impassivity - though it was an annoyed impassivity this time, the man stabbing his blood drenched pasta with his fork.

"Looks like the Blob disagrees with that," Tony remarked dryly.

"No, Mr. Venom is right," Peter said earnestly. "Like his hair and the flowing cape and his muscles. Have you read the cabin story?"

"Don't read that."

"What's the cabin story?" Rhodes asked curiously.

"Why would you ask that?" Tony demanded, as Peter pulled his phone out to find it. "You know better than to ask shit like that."

"I actually think they're right," Natasha said calmly. "But only because no one else makes it into the running."

Everyone looked properly offended.

"I found it!" Peter waved his phone.

 

***

 

Tony was actually enjoying the dinner. Everything was delicious, home made, everyone was enjoying themselves, and almost everyone was _home._  Pepper and Peter were both there.

It was like a family. A large, dysfunctional family. But even Venom seemed to be having a good time, fitting into the spy clique at the end of the table. Peter, of course, was fascinated with them, which was a little annoying. But he obviously had Venom wrapped around his fingers, just like the rest of the Avengers, though of course the boy didn't know it.

"Oh, if you guys want dessert, Venom made chocolates," Peter said. "I had some and it's really good."

"Go get it, Underoos," Tony urged. "If they're as good as the rest of dinner, we'll put Venom on permanent chef duty."

"I wouldn't argue," Clint said with a grin. "I was ready to try fried brains, you know."

Venom grinned as Peter brought back the bowl of chocolates. "We'll make you some sometime, promise."

Tony took a chocolate curiously, along with everyone else. Dark chocolate coated a soft raspberry flavored foam. It was decadent and rich.

"These are really good. You made them yourself?"

Venom nodded, eating one himself. "Well, not the chocolate part, but the raspberry jam and the blood meringue, yeah."

Everyone froze.

"What?" Pepper asked, voice cracking. "Blood meringue?"

"Yeah, you know, when you whip blood it gets all foamy and stiff like egg whites do. But it's a little softer and it's just... richer."

" _Venom_!" Tony jumped up. "You promised no blood!"

"In the sauce." The little shit looked far too amused.

"Huh. I've never had it in sweets before." Nat inspected hers calmly. "You guys do know it's very American not to eat blood, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I swear, the hardest part of this is doing all the bold and italic parts. 
> 
> Thanks for all the love! I love reading through all your comments! Sometimes it reminds me what to put focus on when I revise my chapters, or helps me add in good scenes. :) My mind goes, they want banter? Banter they shall have!  
> So please keep commenting I guess is the idea here. Knowing what you guys like/notice/care about shapes the nuance of this work.


	4. Frustration and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate doing chapter summaries.
> 
> This one's a little short, but that is as it needs to be. Next one is significantly longer. :)

**The bird man is in the ceiling**

Eddie looked up. "Again?"

Nat followed his gaze and scowled. "Clint? Get the hell out of there."

There was a curse from above and the man under discussion jumped down from the ceiling.

"I can even sneak up on Nat, but never you."

They shrugged.

"They have telepathy, genius."

Venom stared at Natasha. "How did *you* know?"

"Its obvious. Now focus. Ignore Clint."

"Hey!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "I still don't understand why we can't just fight like we usually do."

"Yeah, I heard it was pretty crazy and Steve's scared of fighting you again," Clint grinned. "Can I see?"

"I wouldn't say 'scared' so much as _disturbed_."

"Stop distracting him," Nat snapped. "And I want to fight just your human half because right now it's just the symbiote that does any fighting. Eddie is useless."

"Eddie is a journalist," they pointed out.

"He _was_. Now Eddie is part of the Avengers and if he doesn't want to get his ass kicked if you two ever get separated he needs to learn something. I don't buy your whole 'nothing can separate us' spiel."

Eddie leveled a look at her. "I wouldn't let anything separate us."

"Not punching like that you won't."

They sighed but got in position.

"But after you're done, can I see you fight properly?" Clint put in.

Eddie bit his lip. He didn't want Clint to get disturbed too, but he nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Great. Now go shoot something, birdbrain," Nat ordered.

 

***

 

"Don't hold back." Clint bounced on his feet as he faced a reluctantly ready Venom. He could tell they were nervous, and he got it. But, well, he'd seen some weird shit in his life, and though Venom was _different_  in some ways, they also just wanted to fit in. Like when they'd moved in the middle of the school year and he'd seen his normally outgoing son turn shy and nervous about fitting in with the cool kids in school.

And it was kind of hard to be scared of someone who reminded him of his teenager.

"We'd hurt you if we didn't hold back," Venom said flatly.

"Then hold back just enough not to snap my neck." He flashed him a grin before attacking. He'd watched Venom's last fight, or footage of it, but it was definitely a little shocking to be picked up and thrown by the tentacles they made.

After that he kept his distance, but he wasn't completely sure how he was supposed to fight them. He couldn't exactly envision any way to pin them to the ground, but he was nimble enough on his feet that he didn't get pinned for a while.

"You did better than Steve," Nat noted once he'd tapped out.

Clint grinned. "Of course I did." He accepted the hand Venom held out to help him up, giving it a squeeze which made them grin. A very wide and sharply toothed grin, but genuine. Venom had enjoyed the fight, perlescent white eyes reflecting the lights.

" **You're clever** "

Clint chuckled. "It's not hard to be cleverer than Steve."

"Are you guys insulting my boyfriend?" They looked over to see Bucky leaning on one of the bags. V retreated under Eddie's skin.

"When are we not making fun of your boyfriend?" Clint asked, stretching out bruised muscles. "Especially after Spider-Man showed us those PSAs he did."

Bucky snorted. "Honestly. I want to say I can't believe he made them, but you never saw the shit they made him do in the war."

"What did he do?" Clint asked.

Bucky shook his head. "I promised not to tell anyone about the performances and mini movies."

"What?" Clint grinned. "There have to be records."

Bucky shrugged, eyes amused.

"We've seen them," Venom said. "We did some research when the Captain was brought back." There was a pause. "I guess  _I_ did some research."

Bucky chuckled. "Aren't they great?"

Venom nodded, smiling a little. "Wonderful. He has a history of participating in embarrassing things for the greater good."

"He really does," Nat said, coming over. "You two just get back?"

The winter soldier nodded, serious again. "Steve sent me down to get you two. We're having a meeting."

"Great." Nat headed up without more prodding.

Bucky followed after telling Venom, "We should spar sometime."

Venom nodded and leaned against a punching bag, looking for all the world like a dejected teen.

Clint squeezed his shoulder. "You'll be part of the group soon."

Venom shrugged. "Sure." The disbelief was clear.

Clint gave them an apologetic look before following the other two up. Maybe he could bring it up with the others.

 

***

 

**Pussy**

"Shut up," Eddie hissed.

**We could get into their stupid secret meeting**

"Yeah, they'll really trust us then," he muttered, hitting the ball of dough against the counter. "We'll have a great time sitting around the compound never going out, eating random powders Bruce thinks might be the chemical we need."

**We could just take over**

"And have the entire world trying to kill us. Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

**I want to eat someone**

"I wish that would help." Eddie sighed and rolled the dough into a ball. "Let's let this rise." He tossed it into a bowl and covered it, then put it in a warm place.

**Next time we can listen in, through the vents like the bird man**

"I guess." Eddie sighed and collapsed on the couch. "I don't know. It doesn't really matter, I guess."

V pooled out of his skin, tentacles rifling through his hair. **Can we help**

He shrugged. A black tendril snaked down his chest, teasing. **let me help, we're still together**

Eddie shifted. He wouldn't mind a little distraction.

**More than a distraction**

Another tendril went to more intimate areas. Eddie groaned and shifted to give V better access, feeling the slow buzz that meant V was releasing something in his brain.

"V," he murmured, feeling another tendril wrap around his neck, pricking at the sensitive skin where neck met shoulder. It all felt so much more sensitive, his nerves overreacting.

**Yes**

"Please, V." He gripped the couch, feeling more tendrils wrapping around him, touching every sensitive area. V forced his arms behind him over the edge of the couch, lashing the wrists together. He moaned some combination of "V" and "please" and "fuck" as he let his head fall back.

"Oh. My. _God_!"

Their eyes snapped open to find - to Eddie's eternal horror - pretty much everyone. Watching them. V retreated under his skin and he sat up, blushing deeply.

"Uh... meeting done, guys? I was... making some bread..."

 

***

 

Bruce wanted to say he'd put 'alien eating people' on the top of his priority list for the past week, but, well, he'd been a little preoccupied with... everything else. Not to mention he'd hit a bit of a roadblock, testing every chemical in the makeup of chocolate to find what Venom needed to survive.

Besides, if it got too bad they could just buy more live farm animals and be done with it, right? It wasn't exactly as urgent.

But he thought he'd figured it out, what with his mind combing through the known chemicals in chocolate on a regular basis when he wasn't fully focused on Avengers business, and then seeing the two of them together on the couch. A bit of a eureka moment, though he hated the term.

It wasn't like it had all come at once, there'd been a lot of research before hand into things that really didn't have enough research on them and a few trials of compound mixes that had let him at least somewhat narrow the list.

But after the Incident, he'd gotten an idea and had rushed down to the lab to get a sample of what he wanted to try next. Maybe it'd be a swing and a hit, or maybe it would be nothing and he'd be arguing with an implacable alien about maybe letting him test their blood or scan their brain or _anything_ that would make this wild goose chase a little bit easier.

There was really no way to know when it came to these kind of gut instincts.

Bruce knocked on the door of Venom's room, which was where the couple had hidden as soon as they could get away after they'd been caught getting frisky on the couch. It took a few moments, but the door opened to reveal Venom in a dark room, eyes that perlescent white shade that said they were a little less human just then.

Bruce was hopelessly fascinated, but when he asked them questions he got back vague responses like 'we see better in the dark, I guess', which didn't give him the answers he was looking for.

Too bad he'd never get a chance to test it.

"I have some pills for you to test," Bruce said, holding up two little powder filled capsules.

They sighed. "Alright." They took the capsules and downed them without water. Then froze.

"Is it right?" he asked hopefully.

" **Yes** What is it?"

Bruce beamed. "Phenylethylamine. It's pretty rare in this form, which is probably why you've zeroed in on chocolate."

"Damn. So we can get a lot of this or..."

"Yeah. Tony'll supply you with as much as you need and you won't have to worry about... getting hungry."

Venom beamed back at them. "Thank you."

"Yeah, of course. I just had this thought after seeing you two together. PEA is a neurotransmitter and you guys kept getting embarrassed when I asked when you produced it, and it clicked." Bruce snapped his fingers, probably overexplaining, but, hell, he was excited. "PEA is mainly produced when you're in love."

His patient blushed deeply. "Ah, well." They rubbed the back of their neck, the white retreating. "Oh, shut up," Venom said, seemingly to the air. "Like you didn't know." They looked back at him. "You're not gonna like... tell people?"

Bruce shook his head, amused. "Let's call it patient doctor confidentiality. It's possible you'll start creating enough to feed the symbiote eventually, if he consumes what you produce... though I'd love a blood test to check?"

They shook their head. "Sorry, doc."

He sighed, not really surprised. "Well, at least we figured _that_  out. Are you two going to hide there the rest of the evening, or do you want to come join movie night?"

Venom hesitated, but shook their head. "Maybe next time. Thanks, Bruce."

They closed the door with that and Bruce sighed and went back to the living room. He could share the good news with everyone - without going too in-depth - but he worried those two isolated themselves too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of love I'm getting is just unbelievable! Thank you to everyone who read, commented, kudoed, BOOKMARKED??? my story. :) i just realized people are bookmarking like yesterday, so I'm still in shock. :P
> 
> I keep hoping it'll paste my story formatted, but every time I am disappointed. 
> 
> Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments!


	5. Spiders and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is being secretive and Venom's getting real damn sick of it.

"So that's decided." Tony sighed and pushed the map across the table.

"Once you get the information, we can do a full assault," Steve said, looking at the spies in the group. "Just get in and get out."

Clint nodded.

"We'll get it," Nat promised. She, Clint and Bucky were headed out that evening. They made a good team together.

Clint tapped his fingers on the table. "Tony, you should invite Spider-Man over while we're gone. We could be a week, and Venom's gonna get lonely."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Look, Barton, I'm glad you're close with our resident alien, but I don't set up super mixers in my spare time."

"Do they need company?" Steve asked. "They're half alien, I'm sure they're fine without any oversight."

"Referring to them as one individual is a useful abstraction," Bruce put in. "But it _is_  an abstraction. They're two separate, but connected, beings, and I think Eddie needs company as much as any other person."

"Eddie's clearly been changed from the experience. He didn't use to _eat_  people."

"I think he needs company more than most," Clint said, ignoring Steve. "Since they've been here they've had no interaction with anyone outside the tower. I asked if they had family nearby and they said, and I quote, 'there are no other Klyntar on Earth'."

Tony frowned. "FRIDAY?"

_"Clint is correct. Venom has made one call since arriving, and it was on the day of his arrival."_

"You think it was to someone who couldn't handle the fact he's now going halfsies with a man-eating alien?" Steve asked.

"Of course it was," Nat said. "Am I the only one who's traced his history?"

"Why would I track the reporter's history, Nat? We've been a _little_  busy." Tony gestures to the table. "That's what we have you for."

She rolled her eyes. "Just invite the kid over, Stark. It's not like it'll inconvenience anyone."

"I wouldn't mind a small dinner party," Sam said. "Since we'll be doing nothing for a week."

"I would hope you'd be training while we're gone."

"I wouldn't mind a small dinner party since I'll be training for a week," Sam amended.

"Alright, I'll arrange it." Tony rolled his eyes. "We'll have a good time. Where is the Predator anyway?"

Clint shrugged. "Out for a walk."

 

***

 

They peered over the edge of the roof, down at the revelers in the street below. Despite the chill in the air, their skin was showing, offering themselves up to the rest of the club.

**Delicious**

Eddie ignored the prompting, used to the way V saw other people. He wouldn't act on the stream of images Eddie could just feel in the other's thoughts - images of blood and gore - so he let them watch.

Their eyes tracked a girl coming out of the club, sweat glistening on her tanned skin, sleeveless top and short shorts highliting her attributes like an advertisement. Despite the fact the powder helped with their hunger, they hadn't hunted in a while, and V was starting to feel restless under his skin - well, over at the moment.

 _We can hunt down a stray,_  Eddie offered.

**We should dance**

_What makes you think I can dance?_  And more importantly, was it a good idea to let V in a crowded room that smelled of humanity so thickly it felt crushing when they were in this mood. _Why don't we go somewhere high and watch the city?_

**Worried, Eddie**

_I know you._

They crawled along the edge, watching the door open, letting the sound and light escape the club. It would be too loud for them anyway. One song with the wrong frequency and they'd be seizing on the dance floor. Made metal concerts an impossibility - not that he'd been interested in them before.

_Let's go for a hunt, then head home._

**Home**

They bounded over the roof to a more deserted alley.

**I like this home, it's not broken**

Eddie snorted internally. _It wasn't that bad._

**It smelled like the dumpster outside**

_Rude._

He felt V laughing around him as they touched down in an alleyway, scattering rats. It was a quick hunt, and then they were racing over rooftops back to the tower.

**You need to hunt too, Eddie**

_What? I don't hunt._

**You hunt information and you're restless**

Eddie considered that. _Don't have much to do right now. Maybe I should apply as a reporter somewhere._

**There is a secret in the tower you can hunt, I know you, Eddie, you want to**

_Well, yes. But... I don't know. Seems rude?_

**We want to know what they're doing**  V said firmly. **Rude doesn't matter**

Eddie considered as they bounded up the side of the building. As they reached the edge of the compound V retreated below his skin, and they looked completely human as they pulled themselves onto the large... balcony?

Whatever it was called.

They entered through the glass doors, waving at Sam who was lounging on the couch. They paused and looked up, sensing something was off. Or... different.

"Who left while we were gone?"

Sam looked up from his book. "Oh, Clint, Nat, and Bucky are off on a mission. Had a good outing?"

Of course he didn't elaborate. They didn't get to know where anyone was going. Which irked him more after the conversation. Why couldn't they know?

"Yeah. Went for a run." They didn't elaborate either. "How long do you think they'll be gone?"

"About a week."

They nodded and headed to the kitchen. "We're gonna make some hot chocolate. Do you want some?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Why not?"

They quietly prepped two cups of hot chocolate and went to go sit on the couch. There was a moment of awkwardness, before Eddie said, "I hope they'll be ok."

"Oh, yeah." Sam shrugged. "They've done this kind of thing before. And I would never bet against Nat."

"Me neither." He grinned a little. "And they have Bucky with them, so I think Clint will be protected."

Sam chuckled. "Oh yeah. I feel like I'm missing out a little, but," he shrugged. "Small group, you know?"

They nodded, then moved to a slightly different topic. "So you can relax for the week?"

"God, no. Nat will be upset if I'm not training. I'm not one of the enhanced people here, so I don't get a pass. Neither do you, by the way."

"Oh, shit," he said good naturedly, mulling it all over.

***

"And we need to load up on snacks," Peter completed.

"Yeah, with the way you eat, we should buy out a whole store," Ned teased. "You could eat your way through one in three movies."

Peter blushed lightly. "I can't help it!" At least he wasn't eating people for the fuel.

Almost as if she'd heard the thought, MJ said, "You guys are such nerds. Why aren't we talking about the fact you're going back to the tower tomorrow to meet an _actual_ alien?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "I told you, they don't say anything about being an alien! Any time I asked about Klyntar they quickly deflected. I know what everyone else knows. Besides, I'm going up to work on suits this weekend, not hang out with the Avengers."

"Do both," Ned insisted.

Peter was about to remind Ned he had a _secret identity_ to maintain, but MJ interrupted.

"But you've only really talked to the human part, right? Maybe figure out how to get the alien part out and you can find out a thing or two. I know it comes out, I did my research into the San Francisco demon, I saw the photos."

"There's photos?" Peter asked.

She looked disappointed in the both of them.

Luckily Peter was spared from hearing about it because his phone rang.

Now Peter wasn't the kind of person to not have his phone on vibrate - what was he, old? - but Mr. Stark had given him the phone so naturally, he'd never figured out how to put Mr. Stark's calls on vibrate.

He picked it up with relief. "Hello, Mr. Stark? Is everything alright?"

MJ looked annoyed, but just said, "put him on speaker so we can hear."

Peter did as he was told, since they were having their lunch on the far edge of the field away from prying eyes and ears. And Flash.

" - fine, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come over as Spider-Man and hang out with the group?"

"This weekend?"

"God, no. This weekend is for us, but if you don't have anything to do today, I'd appreciate it. The spies have been gone for all of a day and Venom's practically locked themselves in their room."

"Well, actually i -"

"He's free Mr. Stark!" Ned exclaimed quickly.

Peter looked at him, betrayed, but Ned just shrugged.

"Great! Swing by after you finish your homework."

"Ok, I guess. Where are the spies? Nat and Clint?"

"And Bucky. But you don't have to worry about that."

"Is something going on?"

" _Peter_."

"I just want to help."

"You can help by keeping my mind off our newest resident and whether they're planning an all you can eat Avengers buffet. C'mon, Underoos."

"Alright, I'll come."

"Great. See you then, kiddo."

"See you, Mr. Stark."

Ned looked like he was going to have an aneurysm from excitement. "Oh my god, you're going to literally go hang out with an alien!"

"More like I'm being kept out of anything important," Peter grumbled.

"You're like the resident alien whisperer!"

"What?"

"Stark did call you specifically, Peter," MJ said calmly. "Just try to get any specifics you can. Try to talk to the alien himself."

"I'm not going to just go interrogate the poor dude. I can't believe you cancelled our plans, Ned."

"But this is way better! You can tell us everything afterward."

"You better tell us everything afterward," MJ added.

 

***

 

Peter walked up to Venom's door, wondering what they were doing in there. He raised his hand to knock, but the door opened before he got there. He narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Telepathy?"

Venom grinned, looking slightly overworked, like they hadn't slept enough. Peter knew this look on Tony, though this was a greatly reduced version. "Yeah. We didn't know you were coming over."

Peter shrugged and opted for the truth. He didn't know if the telepathy meant Venom could tell he was lying, but why bother? "Tony's trying to keep me distracted from whatever 'super important mission' they're working on."

Venom looked sympathetic. "You too?"

"They're stonewalling _you_? You're like the best fighter here! I saw footage of you with Mr. America and it was _intense!_ "

They laughed. "Yeah, we're not Avenger enough... want to come in? We can go out to play video games or something later, seeing how we're apparently supposed to keep each other busy, but I'm in the middle of some stuff."

"Sure." Peter entered the room and closed the door.

"You can lose the mask if you want. We'll recognize you on the street if we run into you." Venom went back to their computer and tapped a few keys. "I'm trying to figure out what they're doing. Want to help?"

Peter pulled off his mask, eyes wide. "You're spying on them?"

Venom scoffed. "It's not exactly spying, kid. They're horrible at keeping secrets. We know for a fact that the group is out to steal some info on the downlow, and my bet for location is somewhere in the middle east. I called some of my contacts and there's a base in Azerbajan that seems right. I'm trying to find what drew the Cap and Bucky out last time and hopefully that'll confirm the guess. As to what they're stealing, I'm not a hundred percent on that."

Peter walked over to see a page in some foreign language. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just ask some questions. Think you can manage?"

Peter hesitated, then nodded. It wasn't like they were breaking into anything, or stealing information. And they were both pretty trustworthy.

 

***

 

Steve smiled when he walked into the living room. It was always nice to see the spider-kid here. Even Venom seemed a lot calmer and more human with the kid next to him, both of them focused on beating each other on some video game on the screen.

Steve didn't get why everyone seemed to like these things, but he accepted it. The future was a weird place, that was all.

"Yes!" Spider-Man slammed down his controller and jumped up, fists in the air while his beaten opponent groaned and collapsed against the couch.

"You're supposed to help me, V," the man complained.

Steve didn't hear an answer, but he had to assume one was given because the man rolled his eyes.

"So there!" Spider-Man twirled excitedly. "Super reflexes beat alien symbiotes."

"I don't think it's the reflexes kid, or the captain would do as well as you."

Spider-Man turned to Steve immediately. "Want to join?"

Steve wanted to refuse, but the kid looked expectant and hopeful even behind the damn mask, so he sighed and went over. "I'm not good at this."

"Oh, we know," the resident alien snarked.

Steve gave him an annoyed look as he took the controller.

"Don't worry, Mr. America, I'll teach you," Spider-Man said cheerily, and that was how he spent the next half hour playing video games with the two.

At some point while he was the one off for a round, Spider-Man happily said, "I'm glad you came to join us, Mr. America, I know you always miss Mr. Barnes when he's gone."

Steve sighed. "Yeah. And this is oddly enjoyable."

"Bucky'll be alright," Venom said absently, pummeling Spider-Man's character on the screen.

"Oh, yeah. He knows his way around tech more than I do," Steve agreed. "I don't think it'll take too long."

"Yeah, Tony told me not to worry," Spider-Man agreed. "The worst they'll get is a tan."

Steve nodded, wondering how much exactly Tony had shared with the kid. "They won't have enough time for that. I'm expecting him back by Tuesday."

The kid nodded. "That's good. In the meantime, you're up. I hate that you're getting better at this," he grumbled to the grinning alien duo.

"Age and skill _do_  sometimes win over youth and spider powers."

Spider-Man snorted. "We should check that in the training room sometime."

Steve took the controller and grinned. "I'd actually like to see that. Bet it'll be the first time you get beaten."

Venom gave him a side glance. "Unlikely."

"Oh my god, Venom, we totally should!" Spider-Man said excitedly.

 

***

 

Bruce watched Venom and Peter face off in the training area. He'd learned the kid's identity after the kid had come in "lightly stabbed", according to him, and Tony had freaked and asked him to patch the kid up. Sam had decided to come watch with him, curious about their fighting style.

"We don't know if this is a good idea," Venom hedged. " **We would not harm you** "

"Awww, don't worry," Peter said. "I've got my suit on, Mr. Venom, and my webbing. Are you sure you don't want to both go weaponless?"

" **We're never weaponless** "

"Then let's go." Peter shot a web towards his friend and Venom was out of the way, dark webs pulled him away.

He shot a tendril at Peter, who jumped onto the wall to avoid it, sticking to it and sending another web at Venom that was dodged. They jumped onto the wall as well, black tendrils sticking them to the wall. Bruce watched as they began to exchange volleys of webs and tendrils, jumping across walls and the ceiling.

He was concerned, but they both seemed to be enjoying themselves, V's true eyes rising over Eddie's. He thought he even heard Peter giggle during a near miss.

Eventually Peter got the drop on him, when Venom was up in the corner and Peter was halfway up the opposite wall. He'd tossed one web that had pushed the symbiote into that corner and then immediately fired another that caught his arm to the wall/ceiling area and pumped his arm.

"Yessss!"

" **Shit** "

"Damn," Sam breathed as they watched Venom struggling to pull their arm free. "Kid's a hell of an engineer."

"You can't break it!" Peter crowed victoriously. "It's strong enough!"

Venom looked at him, and grinned, wider than he should have been able to, his teeth sharp and pointed. " **Fascinating** "

Bruce's eyes widened as a long, pointed tongue came out of Venom's mouth, running it across the webs that kept him bound. They would've widened further if they hadn't already been at max point when the threads frizzled away.

Venom fell to the floor and landed hard.

"You're _venomous_!" the kid exclaimed, way too excited and not worried enough. "That's why!"

Venom smiled widely and the black tendrils wrapped around him, growing larger until they encompassed him whole and the symbiote himself was staring at the kid.

"Holy fuck," Sam said succinctly.

"Eddie's other half," Bruce breathed, entranced. "We finally get to see him."

" **Acidic** "

"Cool! But also cheating!" Peter shot another web and they were off again, but Venom was faster and stronger this way. Clearly they'd been holding back.

This time they ended with Venom pinning the kid against the wall, all maybe seven, eight feet of alien smiling down at him.

"You win this time. But I'm updating my webbing," the spider kid warned.

" **Yesss, you must protect yourself spiderling** "

Then, of all things, Venom licked him.

"That better not melt my suit."

" **We wouldn't ruin your armor, now we've decided to keep you** " Venom stepped back and the black began to recede and the human appeared.

"That was so cool!" Peter exclaimed. "How does that feel? Like you're swimming?"

"Not really. Like..." Eddie shrugged, glancing at their audience. "V is under my skin, and he's not watery, but... I don't think I can explain it very well."

"Can I talk to him personally? V, I mean. I mean, I know I'm talking to you both right now, but you're filtering, right?"

Venom cocked his head. "It's for the best, kid. Trust me."

"Can I talk to him?" Bruce asked eagerly.

Venom gave him a look. "No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter up! This ones a little more... plotty than the others? Im also super tired so i may have missed something, let me know!
> 
> Also, to answer a comment question; spider-man can absolutely stick to Venom in this universe.
> 
> Thanks so much for your comments and kudos! It really makes day every time i get one. ::)


	6. Teens and Plots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom and Peter meet to talk about the Avengers and their next steps.

**We need to eat**

Eddie rubbed his eyes, staring at his computer screen. "I'm working, babe," he complained, speaking freely because they were in their room. No one would look at them weird for having a conversation with themselves.

**There's nothing else to find**

Eddie sighed, but that was probably true. Until the group came back with their stolen information and Eddie and Peter could weedle it out of them.

**And you haven't rested enough**

"That's not unusual."

**You are a disaster of a human**

"You're not the first person to say that." He put the laptop away, thinking that V had been right about him needing a hunt. He might not be taking the best care of them, but he was feeling better. Less useless.

He should find a job as a reporter. Keep busy. They'd probably be eager to hire him if they knew where he lived now anyway.

But he probably wouldn't be sharing that.

They left their room and went to the kitchen, searching for snacks, chocolates, raw fish; things they could work their way through quickly. And, of course, a few of their pills. As they were pulling a pile of food out of the fridge, Eddie felt their phone buzz and he pulled it out to check what person could possibly be contacting them.

 _Unknown number:_ Hey, this is Peter! Just wanted to know if you found anything.

 _Unknown number:_  shit, shit, shit. I meant Spider-Man. Karen, activate Instant Kill mode.

He chuckled and added the kid to his contacts.

**Our pet is as much a disaster as you are**

_Eddie:_  Yeah, I think I've figured out the where and who and why of this one. We'll fill you in, but maybe not over text.

 _Spider Parker:_ oh my god, really? Already? That's so awesome!!! Look, I'm down with Mr. Stark in the lab all weekend, you can come get me since I'm an idiot who can't not reveal my identity.

 _Spider Parker:_  just maybe tomorrow since I want to spend today with Mr. Stark.

 _Eddie:_ No problem, Pete. We'll come up with an excuse so they don't know we're looking into it.

 _Spider Parker:_ omg, you're right. We're being sneaky. I can call Ned over tomorrow so we can talk in my lab.

 _Spider Parker:_  he can hack into Friday and make sure no one can listen in.

 _Eddie:_ Wow. That's a better idea than hiding in our room.

 _Spider Parker:_  yeah! And then I can work on my webs and making them Venom proof. :)

 _Eddie:_  We'll come up with an excuse. You enjoy your time with Tony.

 _Spider Parker:_  :)

Venom smiled and looked at the food that had been piled on the table and began to systematically eat their way through it. They registered Steve coming into the kitchen in a way where V shared the feeling of knowing rather than telling him.

"Hey, Steve," he said between inhaling some chocolate cake.

"Hey, Venom." Steve began to pile out food as well, but a different brand - healthier options.

Venom stopped and stared at the table. "How do we keep enough food in this house to feed everyone?"

Steve looked at the table and laughed. "Tony's a billionaire, remember?"

"I hope he's being paid for taking care of all us supers."

"I think so, actually. Now we're deployed at the UN's whims." Steve's voice went flat at that. "So I guess there's an upside."

Venom nodded. "We're not fans, either."

Steve considered him. "You're being tracked, too. No one else has been yet."

They nodded. "Well, it's only fair. We could probably kill off humanity."

"That's a little egotistic." Steve raised his eyebrows.

They opened their mouth, but Eddie stopped the words that were going to form; **you don't know what I've done**.

That wasn't something they wanted to say out loud. Instead he said, "maybe not alone. That's why we stopped the rocket."

Steve nodded thoughtfully as he sat down and also began to eat way more than a single person should be able to. "That's fair. I don't think we could handle a million symbiotes all intent on destruction."

"You have handled alien invasions before."

"Yeah, but this would be stealthier. Bodysnatching."

They nodded. "Likely."

There were a few seconds before Steve asked, "So why _did_  you stop the rocket?"

V rose above his eyes to consider Steve directly. " **We prefer Earth as it is** "

And it was the truth but there was a depth there that they didn't want to speak of, a feeling of second chances and changing fate, of hope and a life away from what had been, and the fleeting belief in soulmates and a true, perfect symbiosis.

Steve considered them, but with V so close to the surface the human emotionality was harder to hold, and Eddie wasn't sure what their face showed.

"I see. And if Earth hadn't met your standards?"

" **We may have made a different decision** "

Steve nodded, and V retreated below his skin.

 

***

 

Tony smiled as he watched Peter work in the lab. He'd gotten to spend yesterday with the kid in his labs instead of dealing with whatever craziness the Avengers got up to.

It was calmer in the sense he understood what caused all the explosions.

Peter was all busy with the wiring on one of his suits, chattering about his schoolwork, and it was just... perfect.

"What do you think, Mr. Stark?"

"Of course," he agreed. "If you need to get the project done, you can invite Fred up to your lab."

It was a small lab that he'd given over to the kid, where he could work on all his spider stuff. The spider stuff had started to take over his own lab, or that was the excuse he gave.

Truly he'd just wanted to make the kid smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark!" He beamed at him. "I'll call him."

"Of course, it's -" He looked up at the knock on the door to his lab and frowned to see Venom. What the hell were they doing? Were they even allowed on this floor?

Peter, of course, beamed at the window.

Traitor.

"Wait here." Tony got up and went to open the door, scowling at the two of them for interrupting his time with Peter. "How did you get here?"

"Asked FRIDAY, she let us down. Actually, we wanted to steal Peter, hey Spider-kid."

Peter bounced up as Tony turned a glare at him. "What the hell, Peter? Did you tell them your identity?"

"It was an accident!" Peter assured immediately. "I texted them and introduced myself as Peter. Spider Man doesn't really text people, Mr. Stark."

Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose, not really liking how ready the kid was to bounce out of the lab and their shared time. " _Why_ do you need Peter?"

"We're going to prank Clint," they answered unapologetically. "We're thinking of finding his arrows... modifying them... I'm envisioning glitter. Rainbow glitter."

Peter giggled. "I am _so_ in."

Tony scowled at both of them.

"Come on, Tony. We can't do it on our own," Venom said nonchalantly.

"Fine! Fine. But I want you back after - after your thing with Ned, I guess." He sighed.

"Of course Mr. Stark!" Peter hurried out of the room to a damn alien of all things.

"We're certain he keeps his arrows in the vents, so we need to search them," Venom explained as he led Tony's kid away.

Tony sighed and went back to his table. His lab feeling strangely... empty.

 

***

 

"I'm just really interested in this project. I mean, since I can't really work on anything important right now, I figure I'll work on important scientific discoveries," Bruce said, stirring his coffee.

"Huh." Sam was just barely paying attention, but it was close enough, considering Bruce was ready to geek out.

"I had a sample of _Cryptococcus neoformans_ in the lab, and was inspecting its response to various levels of gamma radiation. You know, this is one of only _three_  radiotrophic organisms that we've ever -"

"Shh."

Bruce quieted immediately, seeing the look on the other's face. He wasn't a trained fighter, so he went with others leads when it came to this kind of thing.

Then he heard it, and they both looked up.

"Who's in the ceiling? You're not nearly as quiet as Clint."

The person stopped above them.

"To be fair," came Venom's voice. "Clint makes this seem a lot easier than it is."

Bruce put a hand to his chest, relief coursing through him that nothing was wrong. Sam just rolled his eyes and went back to drinking his tea.

"Why are you in the ceiling?" Bruce decided to ask.

"We're trying to find Clint's arrows. That's what happens when you leave your things in public spaces."

"Public?" Sam infused the word with all the disbelief possible.

"Communal spaces, then." Venom began to crawl through the ceiling again, but it was easy to track their progress. "Just pretend you don't know anything."

Sam shrugged. "Alright."

"I found them!"

They both turned to the excited voice coming from the other room, to see Spider-Man climb out of the ceiling, quiver of arrows in his hand. There was a curse above them and Venom _broke through the ceiling_  and jumped down.

Bruce stared at the mess as they went over to high five the teenage superhero. "Was that _necessary_?"

Venom glanced at the mess and shrugged. "wanted to know if we could do it. C'mon, kid. Let's get those down to the lab."

"Yeah! And my friend said he has the glitter too." The two hurried to the elevator, out of sight.

Sam and Bruce both stared after them.

"That seems like a dangerous combination," Sam noted.

Bruce nodded. "At least they're entertained." Not getting mixed up in anything.

 

***

 

MJ doodled on her paper as she waited for Peter to come in with his new alien friend and partner in crime. Technically, she didn't _have_  to be there, but she was curious.

Sue her.

She looked up to see Peter enter, followed by Eddie Brock, famous investigative reporter and recent host to an alien lifeform.

_Fascinating._

Peter held up the quiver. "We found them! Clint has a whole hidden stash of things in the ceiling!"

Ned gave his friend a thumbs up. "Perfect. Hello, Mr. Venom!"

Venom waved and came in to sit on a counter.

Peter fell into a chair and pulled his feet up to sit criss cross in it. "Ok, Ned, is the room secure?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"He says that like anyone can hack into the Stark tower AI and change it's behavior without anyone noticing," MJ said flatly.

Ned shrugged. "Hey, it's what I do. I'm the guy-in-the-chair!"

MJ gave him a look and just turned to the reporter. "So Mr. Brock," she began.

"We prefer to go by Venom," he interrupted.

She considered this. "But I am talking to the human half, right? I mean, Eddie  _is_ filtering everything."

"Yes," he allowed. "To a point. But I would say most sentiments expressed are shared by both of us, and referring just to me would be cutting out an important member of the conversation."

 _Expressed_. That was an important qualifier.

"So, do you guys discuss your opinions on things, or just kind of telepathically know it?"

The man shrugged. "Both, I guess. To different degrees on different stuff."

She frowned at the extremely vague answer.

"This is why Dr. Banner hates trying to get information out of them," Peter commented calmly. "You suck at explaining things."

Eddie shrugged. "We're not the scientists."

"Ok, but you - or one of you - is an _alien._  Does the human part know everything the alien does, or does the symbiote have to tell you specifically for you to know it? And vice versa?"

"You know, we appreciate the fact we're around a bunch of nerds, but we're not eager to be put under the microscope, kid. Now, do you three want to know what the Avengers are up to or not?"

"Of course!" Peter said, bouncing excitedly.

"Yes, but," MJ continued. "Don't you two know a lot of space stuff or knowledge of other planets and cultures that you think _maybe_  people in general would want to know about?"

The man shrugged as if progress was a non issue. "Does it matter?"

"Can I ask a _few_  questions?"

"We'd really rather you didn't. Hasn't Peter told you everything?" He glanced at Peter.

"Of course!" Peter assured. "I tell Ned and MJ everything."

"But -"

"Kid. No. We've been studied more than enough for one lifetime."

MJ frowned, but leaned back. "Fine. Let's talk Avengers business."

 

***

 

**Eddie**

"But I don't get why not! We figured it out the proper way, but if we're not going to _do_ anything with the information, why get it?" Peter waved his hands dramatically.

"I'm with Peter," Ned quickly put in. "We can totally show them up! It'll be cool and fun!"

"We're not taking children to destroy an illegal weapons base," Eddie said flatly.

"But between the two of us," Peter pointed out. "We could totally take them!"

"You don't even know how big this base is."

"Ok, ok, how about this?"

"No."

"You don't even know what I'm going to say!"

Eddie shot the boy a look.

"We could be like the Junior Avengers or something," Ned said.

" _What?_ "

"That doesn't have to be our name," the boy quickly backtracked.

"We're not naming this, because 'this' isn't doing anything. And because when you try to name things you come up with stupid stuff like that."

"Besides," MJ said. "If you wanted to be honest you should be the "please notice me Stark" squad."

All three of them gave her a look.

**Eddie we need to eat**

"Not now, V."

Everyone looked over, excitement in their eyes and he nearly rolled his own.

Then he felt V pour out of his skin, forming a face next to him, smooth dark tendrils holding him up. The kids stared in awe.

Eddie smacked him with a rolled up paper. "You're not that hungry."

" **It is lunch time** "

"And we're in the middle of something?"

" **We're hungry** "

"Hold it."

" **Our pets also need to eat** "

Eddie rubbed the bridge of his nose. "V -"

"We can stop to eat, Mr. Venom! I don't mind!" Peter quickly input.

"I'm not a pet," MJ said flatly.

"I don't mind being your pet," Ned said, staring at V with awe. "I can't believe I'm an alien's pet."

"Don't encourage him," Eddie said.

"I don't mind either, Mr. Venom," Peter said. "I know he sees things differently because he's not human, and it just means he likes us. And we do need to eat."

Eddie felt V's smugness and he sent annoyance back. "Alright, alright. Can you go run and get a tray of food for everyone? FRIDAY knows our regular order."

Peter nodded and jumped up and hurried out of the room.

Eddie gave V an annoyed look. "Happy?"

" **Yes, we must be ready to move when we get the information, we are ready to take down a base, lots of humans"**

"We're not moving at all."

"Yes, V agrees!" Ned pumped a fist. "Outvoted!"

V smiled widely. " **Definitely outvoted** "

Eddie rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This is a very bad idea."

" **It will be safe, they are with us** "

"Exactly!" Ned beamed. "And I can hack a quinjet to take us there. They're all completely computer reliant, so no one really needs to pilot if we have coordinates."

" **The Spiderling can listen in on the briefing when Birdman and Natasha get back** "

"The room is soundproof," Eddie pointed out.

"What's soundproof?" Peter asked, coming back in.

"The conference room where the Avengers will have a meeting we're not invited to," Ned said. "We're trying to figure out how to listen in, since we need to get out faster than them."

"Why would _you_  be invited? You're not even a super," MJ pointed out.

"Uh, neither are half the Avengers. I can hack FRIDAY, it should count."

"It really shouldn't."

"It doesn't matter since we two supers are being left out too." Peter sat back down in his chair with a grin, pulling his feet up onto the chair. He picked up a case of web fluid to fidget with. "Food will be here soon. And here's the plan: I, with my super hearing, will be on the ceiling right below the conference room and listen in. If it's not a huge base, we go in, take it, and wait for the rest of the group to show up."

"I never said I agreed!"

" **You were outvoted** " V said gleefully. " **Pussy** "

"This sounds like a good way to die," MJ observed.

"We won't go if there's too many people there!" Peter said quickly.

"Like, if there's more than 2," Eddie said.

" **pussy** "

Eddie gave him a dirty look.

"Is that thee only insult you know?" MJ asked flatly.

" **We also call Eddie a loser** "

"I bet we could take on at least five hundred," Peter said excitedly.

" **Yes** "

"Absolutely not," Eddie said.

"But Eddie -"

"Just compromise on 250," MJ sounded bored, checking her phone.

" **Deal** "

"Yess!" Peter bounced. "Deal!"

Eddie rubbed his temples. How did he get into these things? "But you do exactly what we say. And Ned, don't leave the jet."

"Wouldn't dare."

"MJ?" She didn't look up.

" _I'm_  not going. You guys have fun."

" **We will** " V retreated back under his skin, the sense of smug satisfaction washing through them.

_I still don't approve._

**We will feast well on this base of Bad Guys**

_You're not even hungry._

**But I _am_ bored**

_God. I'm the only adult in a room full of children._

"Mr. Venom?"

Eddie focused on Peter. "Alright. So as soon as the spies get back, I'll text you. You can swing in and do the spying thing. Text us the details and we'll go from there."

"And if it's a small base, Peter gets me and we break into a quinjet!" Ned bounced excitedly.

"Won't they know where you are?" MJ asked. "You're wearing a tracker."

Eddie shrugged. "They'll figure it out eventually, I'm sure."

"I'll tell Mr. Stark I'm on a trip so he won't expect me to come over," Peter said excitedly. "And I'll tell Aunt May I'm away on Avengers business. Ned -"

"I'll come up with an excuse." He shrugged. "This will be worth it, we'll be showing up _the Avengers_."

"Yeah! We can -"

**Hide**

"Tony's coming," Eddie told the group. He held a finger to his lips, shifting a little to a messier part of the table. V covered him, camouflaging them into the myraid equipment and parts of suits and electronics until they were indistinguishable from the general clutter.

The three kids stared with wide eyes at the transformation that only took a second to complete, then Peter turned to Ned. "Give FRIDAY access to the room or Mr. Stark might guess we're -"

Peter cut off as the door opened to reveal Tony, holding several bags. Peter looked at Ned meaningfully, who, to his credit, got the message and turned to the computer.

"You guys ordered food?" Tony asked. "Enough to feed a small army."

"Oh my god, thank you!" Peter went over to take the bags, setting them on a clean corner of table and pulled out his order - a sped up metabolism meant he was as big an eater as Venom and Steve were.

Tony looked over the arrows on the table. "So, do you need to put these back? And maybe repair the hole in the ceiling?"

"Yeah! Do you want to test one out?" Peter asked.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Tony ordered.

Eddie fought a laugh at how paternal the man became around Peter. The high and mighty Tony Stark.

Peter swallowed the bite and picked up an arrow. "They're not dangerous."

"Just glittery? Not sure I want to be washing that off my clothes the rest of my life like the rest of you."

Peter looked down at his clothes, seemingly only then noticing the glitter had not been confined to the table.

"Oh."

Tony looked around. "What are you guys working on again?"

"History," MJ said, lie coming out completely smooth. "We have a presentation due."

"You just work in... silence?"

"How else?"

"Well, you know, when I studied -"

"You and uncle Rhodey studied while watching cartoons," Peter said. "He told me."

"Rhodey needs to stop talking." Tony looked at them and sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll stop imposing. But you guys should have a little more fun with it, that's all. It's only one presentation. FRIDAY, play my work playlist."

Peter winced. " _Mr. Stark_ that music is so _old_!"

Eddie frowned as he heard the first beat of the music. "Wait, FRIDAY, no -"

Which was when the drum solo kicked in. Loud. Unnecessary. And it felt like someone was trying to tear V out of his soul.

 

***

 

Peter breathed a sigh of relief as Venom sat up. As soon as he'd realized what was going on and they'd turned the music off they had stopped seizing, which was a relief to everyone in the room. Even MJ looked relieved.

"Are you alright, Mr. Venom?" Peter asked.

Venom rubbed his temples. "Fine." Their voice was a little hoarse, which made sense with the screaming. "Honestly, we'll be right as rain in a minute."

Mr. Stark blew out a breath, also on his knees next to the resident alien. "What. The. Fuck? Did you think maybe we should know common music can fucking trigger something like that? Or the fact you can go fucking _invisible_? What are you even doing down here anyway?"

"It seemed dangerous to share." Venom's voice was already better, and they just ignored the question they didn't want to answer.

"And dangerous not to fucking share!"

"You know, we've just been attacked, and a little more pity would be appreciated."

"I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now," Peter muttered under his breath.

Ned snorted.

Mr. Stark opened and closed his mouth several times before throwing his hands into the air in annoyance. "What, _exactly,_  hurts you about the music?"

"Sounds between 4000 and 6000 Hz are painful to us. The louder the worse."

"FRIDAY, ensure sounds within that range aren't played loudly around Venom."

_"Of course, sir."_

Venom sighed. "No tests?"

"No. I promised no tests or labs, and I meant it."

This time Peter was sure the sigh was relief. "Ok."

"So now if we want to take you down we can aim a sound cannon at you," MJ said practically.

"Yeah. Hence the not telling."

"Probably would be more useful than the explosive in your tracker."

"Well don't email the U.N. about it."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to do that. The Accords are hugely unfair, I'm writing my paper on the ramifications of creating a registry for supers."

"Preaching to the choir, kid," Tony muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG it's almost done!!! Thank you so much guys, reading your comments has been so wonderful!
> 
> Shout out to one of my commenters for the camo idea. This scene needed a little something.
> 
> Aaaagh, my phone froze mid edit and I had to redo the whole damn thing. :/ whhat do you mean the network's unstable? I'm at home!!! On my own Wifi


	7. Team "Please Notice Me, Mr. Stark"

_Spider Parker:_  lets fucking GO

 _Spider Parker:_  the base should be about 100 ppl

 _Spider Parker:_  means we can go

 _Spider Parker:_  ready Ned, we have to go like now

 _Spider Parker:_  before they finish their meeting

 _Eddie:_  Fuck.

 _Pet 2:_  Oh My God, im so ready

 _Spider Parker:_  going over now. well meet you on the hangar level, Mr. Venom

Eddie scowled at his phone. "Fuck."

**YES**

"Oh shut up." Eddie ignored the excited swirling of V as he readied them for breaking into a hundred person base.

They paused at the door, but V sensed no one, which was appropriate considering the Avengers were in a several hour long meeting about strategy and stuff like getting the country's permission to be there.

Bureacratic stuff.

**We will feast tonight**

_Don't think our pets will appreciate that._

**Won't see**

_Hmm._

They would have to plan on the jet itself, since time was crucially of the essence. It was almost too easy to make it to the proper level - Stark had given him Avenger level access because being a non-Avenger super living in the house was a special kind of access level that didn't have a category.

It was only a few minutes later that Peter swung into the room through the windows, Ned safely in his arms and looking way too excited.

"I think there's an access panel... ah! Here." Peter scanned his fingerprint and a small screen opened up which Ned ran up to to do his thing.

Venom walked over to watch curiously, but it was really over their head.

"Do you code, Pete?"

Peter shrugged. "At a super basic level, yeah. I do more biochemical engineering stuff, though with Mr. Stark we do some electrical engineering so I'm pretty good at that as well."

"Damn."

**This is why you're a loser, we do nothing**

_Shut up, V._

They stood quietly for a few moments, not wanting to give FRIDAY any reason to tip off Tony any sooner than necessary.

"Done." Ned grinned. "Which jet?"

"The black one," Eddie said firmly. "We're going stealth mode."

"But the red one is cooler," Peter protested.

"What did I say about us doing this?"

Peter sighed and went to open the black one, going to the com once he was inside and pulling off his mask. "So I have the coordinates. We can just plug them in and this thing'll fly without too much problem."

Eddie settled on a comfortable chair, closed the window and let the teens get the jet going. Luckily all the jets were pretty quiet.

"Ok, let's plan. Which base are we going to?"

"Turkey," Peter said quickly. "Since the last two bases had a pretty similar layout, we can assume this one's the same. I didn't get to see any pictures, so." The teen shrugged.

"That's fine. We'll get a look when we get there. So here's the plan: me and V go in first, alright? We'll get everyone out of the way and you can get into the center room to get anything you think might be of value and destroy the rest, then you get out of there. Once you're out, we'll follow. They won't know what hit them, so they won't expect any Avengers to follow up on anything."

The boys nodded along. "I'll keep the plane ready to go," Ned said. "In case we need to get out of there."

"How are you going to distract them, Mr. Venom?" Peter asked, looking cute and concerned.

" **We will eat them** which should keep them pretty busy."

"But Mr. Venom!" Peter looked extremely concerned now. "You can't just eat people!"

" **Bad people** "

"That doesn't mean they should be eaten!"

"It's not very friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," Ned pointed out.

"Spider-Man won't be killing anyone. Not that anyone should see you there." Eddie paused. "We can go back if you want."

**NO**

"No! But isn't there another way to distract them? Maybe they're just making a living cleaning floors or something."

"Only members are allowed at these bases. They all decided selling horrible weapons was the thing to do with their high level of education. They would rot in jail anyway."

"Then let them rot in jail. It's no reason to turn cannibal."

" **Not cannibalism!** "

"Close enough!"

"You know the Avengers kill people all the time on missions."

"Well this isn't one of their missions."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "We will kill just a few people. Enough to cause terror."

" _Venom._  Please?"

" **What's the fun in going out if we can't eat them** "

"We're doing it to show up the Avengers!"

**We can eat them out of sight**

_You think he won't notice?_

"Look, kid, I can keep it to a minimum, but V's not going for no reason."

Peter pouted at him, eyes wide.

**Why is that working**

 

***

 

_"Sir, Venom's tracker has left the state boundary."_

Tony frowned. He'd need to modify the tracking protocol, he didn't need an alert every time the walking Rorsharch test ran to New Jersey. Especially during an Avengers meeting. "Where are they?"

_"Over the ocean. They are moving at 3000 km/h out of the country."_

" _What?_ " The sentiment was echoed from more than one person.

"Are they in a jet?" Natasha asked as Tony cut straight to "Call them, right now. And get a trajectory."

_"It appears so. One of the jets is missing, but I do not have any record of it being taken. Calling Venom, sir. The trajectory is on the screen."_

They all stared in shock at the trajectory outlined on the screen.

"Hello?" Venom's voice rang out in the silent room. They sounded way too calm.

"What are you doing?" Steve snapped out.

"You know us, trying to help. Got bored, figured we'd go take down an illegal weapons base."

"Do you even _know_ where you're going?" Tony asked, running a hand through his hair. Part of him was perfectly willing to let the alien try to destroy the whole base, but they had wanted to take prisoners instead of eating them all.

"Of course." The voice was affronted. "We're heading to a small A.I.M. base with about 100 people in Turkey. All the members of A.I.M. are scientists, so the only worry there is the weapons, which technically should be boxed up since they're trading them. My research suggests their weapon status is about equal to yours, so we're going for surprise. I called my contacts and this place is pretty out of the way so we don't have to worry about stealth. We'll be careful to save someone for you guys to interrogate so you can handle any other bases."

The group stood in stunned silence for a few seconds.

"You guys _did_  bring an investigative journalist into the compound. It wasn't hard for me to figure it out." There was clear pride in Eddie's voice. "I was able to track the spies to Azerbajan and worked backward to find Stucky's mission in Nepal handling the small paramilitary organization. It came together pretty quickly after that."

"Impressive," Nat sounded proud, which was amusing. "How'd you steal a jet? Neither of you have any computer skills."

The connection Tony had been avoiding was finally made and he paled. "FRIDAY! Check Midtown high field trip plans! _Right now!_ "

There was a low chuckle over the phone and Tony knew the answer before FRIDAY announced  _"There are no scheduled field trips this week, sir."_

"PETER!"

"Hi, Mr. Stark," came a small, embarrassed voice.

"FRIDAY, ready a jet to follow them right now! How dare you steal a jet, Peter! What the hell were you thinking, Venom? You took a teenager on this stupid trip?"

" **We will keep our pets safe, tinman** "

The group paused in their movement to the quinjets.

" _Pets_? Who else is there?" Clint glided over the fact the alien thought of humans as pets.

Tony made the other connection. "Ted better not be there with you two!"

"Oh my god, Mr. Stark almost knows my name."

"VENOM! What the _major_  hell?"

"He's not leaving the plane! We couldn't exactly sneak a plane out without Mr. Hacker here," Venom said.

"Then you shouldn't have left!" Tony entered the quinjet, suit at the ready.

"But Mr. Stark, we can totally do this," Peter's voice came through the speakers. "You guys are always leaving me out; I fought half of you guys and won, it's not fair!"

"You're _sixteen_! What did you tell May? You better not have told her this was my idea."

Silence, then Venom laughed. " **Busted** "

"But I had to tell her something and she knows you take me on Avengers business and this is Avengers business, so it's not exactly lying, Mr. Stark!"

"As soon as we reach you, we're having a long talk. With you too, Venom. Once you guys land, just stay there. Well catch up and come up with something together."

" **No, we do not need help for this** "

"This is a large weapons base!"

" **We will eat their heads and make a pile of the bodies** "

"Venom!"

"We're joking, Pete. We promised."

" **Food _should_ be fun**," V muttered.

"I just don't think of people as food, V," Peter explained.

"This is _not_  the point!" Tony screamed at the ceiling. "The point is you have two teenagers on a dangerous mission!"

"We'll keep them safe!" Venom protested.

"Oh no, we're cutting out!" Peter said. He heard some crackling.

"That's a Stark Phone! It doesn't -"

"What? What? I can't hear you!" There was laughter in the background.

"Peter!"

_"The call has ended, sir."_

Tony hit the side of the jet. "FRIDAY, highest fucking speed, get us to the base!"

 

***

 

"We... definitely can't move anymore."

"That's because you ate too much," Peter said, focusing on his hand. "Go fish."

Ned scowled and grabbed a card from the pile. "Nothing."

"Ha!" Peter grinned. "V, do you have a two of hearts?"

" **Go fish** " V supplied. He was holding the cards, hand and head coming from Eddie's stomach. It was a little weird, but they went with it. Eddie may have felt full and tired, but V seemed happy and sated.

Peter had found a stash of food in the base and had passed it on in thanks for the two keeping their word. It was comforting to know he'd stopped a major bloodbath.

Peter sighed and grabbed another card. "Oh! I have a pair anyway!" He tossed it down happily. "Alright, Ned, do you have -"

He cut off at the sound of another quinjet landing. The engines were pretty quiet, but Venom tensed up anyway. V put the cards down and retreated under Eddie's skin. Eddie sat up with a frown.

"Looks like the group's finally arrived."

"Oh my god, I get to meet the Avengers!" Ned bounced in his spot.

"You haven't?" Venom raised their eyebrow at Ned.

"Secret identity, remember?" Peter asked. "Should I mask up?"

Venom shrugged. "They know your name and school, they could figure it out easy enough."

"Fair. And Ned's here."

Ned nodded.

And the Avengers arrived in the entrance of their jet.

"Hey!" Peter waved. "We took down a weapons base while you were gone."

"Peter, I'm going to fucking ground you until you're twenty," Tony said flatly.

"Nice spy work, Inky," Clint said with a grin.

Peter leaned over. "He hasn't tried his arrows yet."

"Wait, what's with my arrows?"

"OH MY GOD, IT'S THE AVENGERS!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, it's finished!!! Thank you so much everyone for following along, it's been so much fun to do this with you guys. :)
> 
> I am officially writing a sequel, but it'll probably take a little longer with the posting, so be patient. I'll turn this into a series once I figure everything out so you can find everything.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want, you can follow me on tumblr.  
> @aanahitt  
> No stories, I just think I'm funny. :P


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